![]() ![]() Great watches, and great watch design, bring everything together into a harmonious whole that is, simply put, true. “Bad watches” are the negative that proves the positive. The Cellini Prince was a rare haute horology piece from Rolex But some watches are simply bad, a poor combination of components, a failure of design, or a betrayal of the spirit of the brand. There have been many cases where I have failed to understand an “ugly” design and, once I was educated, I came to love it. What makes a “bad watch” should not be in my eye but in the execution of the creator. To be sure, there are many “good watches” that I do not like, and I find some downright ugly. While we cannot expect much of an unknown name applied to a set of off-the-shelf parts, it feels like a slap in the face when an entity with true heritage and credibility puts forward a sub-par offering. This is true of too many mass-market watches, but it is sadly also true of some high-end pieces from brands and designers who should have known better. A great watch is like a book of poetry: It is a unique expression built on everything that went before it.īut sometimes a watch is just a combination of components. To me, the gestalt of watchmaking is a synthesis of 500 years of human progress distilled to a complex artifact that fits in the hand or on the wrist. But as my interest in the world of watches became a study, a passion, or perhaps a fixation, I began to see it more holistically. I am not sure what most people mean when they say “haute horolgerie” or “fine watchmaking” or “feine uhrmacherkunst” and I do not presume to tell them what to think. Image: Christie’s auction, 2016 Marketing Meaning Philippe Dufour’s Simplicity is the essence of haute horology in a time-only watch. ![]()
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